country mile

a country mile

A long distance, especially when one expects it to be shorter. We've driven so far, and I still don't see the silo anywhere. Maybe the farmer was referring to a country mile when he said it was 'just a mile away.'
See also: country, mile
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

country mile

Rur. a great distance. The batter knocked that ball a country mile. I had to walk a country mile to the next gas station.
See also: country, mile
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

country mile

A distance that's farther than anticipated. Rural distances seem to be much longer than city folk think, so when a farmer says that the turnoff is “just a mile down the road,” that mile can stretch on interminably. The phrase used to be regularly used by baseball radio broadcasters to describe the distance of a long home run.
See also: country, mile
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • a country mile
  • get anywhere
  • get somewhere/anywhere/nowhere
  • silo drippings
  • take the long way home
  • keep banker's hours
  • condense
  • condense (something) (in)to (something)
  • condense to
  • within a stone's throw (of someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
So if we can keep him fit, I'm sure he'll surpass 12 goals by a country mile."
IF HULL can beat Man U which I doubt very much then they deserve to stay up its as simple as that NUFC, as Jamie Carragher states, are the worst team in the EPL by a country mile.
should be given the same chance Biggar has had Robert Lyons Better than Priestland by a country mile but not the answer, where' s magic man Ainscombe then Mark Bentley Evans
Division One was decided some time back with Kennelwood taking the honours by a country mile and we are now playing off a three-way tie for the runner-up slot with May Duncan''s, Quarry Green and Halewood Town Athletic.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said Australia thoroughly deserved victory because they were the better team by a country mile, the report mentioned.
Gerry, now the oldest of the group by a country mile and clearly pining for the days when the likes of Sasha would only turn up as "dolly bird of the week" on Minder, is anti-Sasha from the start, suspecting that she's only been given the job because of her connections in the force.
Detective Inspector Dave Mead, who led the operation, said: "This is Cleveland Police's biggest drugs operation by a country mile. "We have 320 officers today working in four different counties raiding properties and arresting suspects.
The race would be a complete non-event, with Frankel winning by a country mile and Black Caviar being eased down a furlong from home and finishing a well-beaten fourth.
He hits the ball a country mile and was putting for eagle on two of the par 5s at Swinley Forest."
Carrie Underwood, "American Idol's" greatest success (by a country mile), will play the DCU Center Sunday.
"This year alone our budget will be the lowest in the Premier League by a country mile."
ON THE TOOTH-AND-NAIL FIGHT WITH SKANDIA: "THERE'S NO QUESTION THIS WAS THE TOUGHEST RACE BY A COUNTRY MILE. HAVING TO WORK THAT HARD WAS FANTASTIC."
Over the years, though, they have gently improved with the generation before this new one being a country mile better than anything that had gone before it.
The TEN budget should therefore amounted to somea 7.2 billion, still a country mile from the 20 billion budget initially proposed by the Commission.